I'm 13 yrs. old and ive raced go karts since i was 5. im looking for some tips on how to better improve my driving. i know the basics high on the straight low in the corners. and when possible get it sideways a lil bit ( like a sprint car) heres the specs. My kart weighs about 320lbs. with me in it i weigh about 125. we run briggs 5.5 hp. power plants, with custom exhast headers. we race on dirt tracks anywhere from 1/8th mile ovals to 1/4 mile ovals. anything will help thanx

$Tyler$
Im only 13 but i know more than alot of adults i know! belive me!!!!

Come on people dont u have ne thing????heres part of the problem that i payed attetion when i was testing a lil bit ago. as i go down the straight i let off at the end kick the rear end out crank the wheel to the right as the kart gets side ways and when i get about halfway through the turn i loose momentum and plow into the inside bank and i dont know what im doing wrong if its throttle control or the set up of the kart

$Tyler$
Im only 13 but i know more than alot of adults i know! belive me!!!!

First on most 1/8 1/4 mile tracks you should be lifting on the gas very little if at all. You should not have to set the kart sidways this is someting that happens because of forses on the tire contact patches. Even on dirt sliding scruffs speed off and hurts your corner speed over all. Keep it to a minimum. You sound like you have a loose condition, this can be caused by several things, tire size weight distribution or chassis stiffness on the right rear or right front.
First the tires. 5.00 front 8.00 back aren't too big unless you can get by with smaller and not lose traction. Smaller will scrub less speed of if your not sideway threw the corner. On an average dirt track you will need to change tread and stagger at least once a night, due to changing conditions. Less tread on hard slick is good. Tony Stewart was running an asfault slick when he won Jr at one nationals. Go with as soft a compound as you can get away with, too soft will eat tires. At least one gear change is needed too. A higher gear as track hardens up is nessasary to keep you in H/P curve and kills some torque when it gets slick. When the track gets hard and slick, you should look for the cusion, it's where the hard stops and there is a little burm. this is very tacky right on the lower side put your right rear with in 6 inches of it and it's a free ride around the corner, if your set up is good. If you want to go lower, you should only have to burp the throttle and you will drop to the bottom of track. this is steering with throttle and takes time to learn.
Weight distribution. there is a ballance the tires will alow. eazy thing to remember is the heavy end will go to the wall. If the rear is going to wall move seat forward or straighten it up so your body is forward. If your pushing the front , seat back or recline it to move weight back. If these don't help enough you can move seat mounts and add or remove rubber cusions on them to soften or stiffen that end. They also make weight jackers that soften or stiffen the right front wheel. I've never found them nessasary. You can also use wheel spacing to soften or stiffen front or back in makes it heavy out makes it light. I have seen some chassis with low h/p need reverse stagger smaller circumfrence on outer rear than inner. This is something that will increase the pressure needed on steering to enter the corner. Theres a start hope it helps. One other thing clutch set up and gearing will be the biggest h/p gains you make except for corner speed. Comming out of a corner 5 mph faster that the other guys will gain you more h/p than anything else you can do to that briggs (leagaly)

Ok the only problem with stagger is theres no adjustment on the rear only spacers in the front and tire psi. and if we dont get it sideways the front end pushes so bad that we cant get through the turn and the biggest track we run is mine and its only 500ft. around the outside.

$Tyler$
Im only 13 but i know more than alot of adults i know! belive me!!!!

Tyler,
Welcome to the forum. It isn't the fact that nobody wants to answer your question...I think its more an issue of this not being the best place to ask the question. Eventhough I am dirt dumb and even kart dumber...I know a guy that is real good with this stuff and may be able to help you. He comes from a long line of dirt racers, and now specializes in Karts.

Please tell him that I directed you his way (Dennis From Air Flow Development) I am sure he will be more than willing to answer your question.

try : http://4cycle.com/
8 years?
There are no reconized classes that use a "5.5 briggs" motor. All the organized tracks follow either WKA or IKF national rule. The only allowed motor is the Briggs 6.5 "Animal" OHV motor.
Another point: the only karts that "get it sideways a lil bit " are the 25 +hp two stroke karts (mainly a midwest thing). Anyone thats been around dirt karts can tell you sideways is SLOOOOW! You just don't have the HP to do that.
Bubstr is right on points of wieght distribution. As far as tires go - they ARE the game. Treaded tires are never used. Slicks all the way around -if you want to be fast. You should have something like5.00x5.00 6.00x5.00lr -8.00x5.00rf -10.00x5.00rr. Compound to suit track, shave to about .095~.065 thick - depends on your money.
Also it sounds like your kart is way heavy! 320lb kart - 125lb kid = 195lb.
And at age 13, you should be running a Jr class, which usually have a minimum class weight of 290 ish.
Heck I out weigh you by 100lb ( I weigh 225lb)and my kart (4 cycle animal senior heavy) only weighs 395 (kart =~170) - with me in it -and that's still considered heavy

We dont race to wka rules or ne thing its just a bunch of guys that get together from around the surrounding countys and race. and we have a full roll cage, the chassis is 1" square and the rollcage is 1/2" square and theres no where to loose weight.

$Tyler$
Im only 13 but i know more than alot of adults i know! belive me!!!!

I used to race Karts but that was many years back and what I ran back then is far different than what is being run today. I ran only two strokes in either a single engine or double engine combination, depending on the class I was running in. We had no idea what the horsepower was becuase we had no way to calculate it. All engines were heavily modified though and turned some very high rpms.

As far as the driving went we were always on asphalt and driving was a different animal if we were on a short sprint track or on a long enduro race.

Some general ideas though was we only set up a controlled slide in the tightest corners. We seldom ever backed off the throttle. At least I didn't. To set up a controlled slide as I was setting up for the corners I would do a quick little jerk with my steering wheel to break the rear loose and control it with steering a accelerator pedal. Idealy the little bit of speed I scrubbed off in my control slides was quickly made up before I was out of the corner.

WE are talking about old school driving but still this is what worked better for me back then. In wide sweeping corners I treated them like several small curves. My advantages were that by my driving style I could get under most of the other guys and was picking up speed before they could.

If you think those old karts were real slow pokes I will let you in on a couple of examples of how they were. In a street race against a 1957 Ford Thunderbird my little A/Super Hevy kart with one modified Mac 9 on alcohol with four carbs whipped his butt in a drag race up to 50 mph. My old C/Super Heavy with two Modified Mac 75's with a total of eight carbs was cloked down the straights at Green Valley Texas at a little above 130 mph. That kart ran two 8 inch wide Carlisle slicks on each side and I had to watch it coming out of corners I had slid or I would bust the tires loose big time. The little A/Super heavy ran with small tires front and rear. I spun out into the lake in a 200 mile enduro while almost at speed by busting those 4 rear tires loose. Going backward into a lake at over 100 mph was not a fun day.

I wish those engines were used and available now days. I loved to hear them screem and mucho high rpms.

when i raced i always had a problem with not being able to turn unless i ran high up. i took weight out of the right front and put it in the left front and it helped alot. the kart drove itself almost but on the straights u would have to turn the wheel to the right alittle. just try adding more weight to the front and that should do the trick. also adjust the angle of your front wheels.

can you put a spacer on the right front? if so stick the right front out it keeps the left rear stuck more and creating a tighter condition. also sounds like you have too much air in the tires, problem i had when i first ran dirt.

laser3kw wrote:try : http://4cycle.com/
8 years?
There are no reconized classes that use a "5.5 briggs" motor. All the organized tracks follow either WKA or IKF national rule. The only allowed motor is the Briggs 6.5 "Animal" OHV motor.
Another point: the only karts that "get it sideways a lil bit " are the 25 +hp two stroke karts (mainly a midwest thing). Anyone thats been around dirt karts can tell you sideways is SLOOOOW! You just don't have the HP to do that.
Bubstr is right on points of wieght distribution. As far as tires go - they ARE the game. Treaded tires are never used. Slicks all the way around -if you want to be fast. You should have something like5.00x5.00 6.00x5.00lr -8.00x5.00rf -10.00x5.00rr. Compound to suit track, shave to about .095~.065 thick - depends on your money.
Also it sounds like your kart is way heavy! 320lb kart - 125lb kid = 195lb.
And at age 13, you should be running a Jr class, which usually have a minimum class weight of 290 ish.
Heck I out weigh you by 100lb ( I weigh 225lb)and my kart (4 cycle animal senior heavy) only weighs 395 (kart =~170) - with me in it -and that's still considered heavy